Living Their Values

By Judith Heichelheim

A highlight of this year’s International AIDS Conference for me was meeting ?CO "100% LIFE, the Ukrainian NGO that has been working on the HIV/AIDS response for the past 20 years and continues to provide ARVs to people living with HIV, despite the ongoing war. It was humbling to hear their stories of living through this war, of responding to needs on the front lines, and sadly, of losing some of their volunteers who succumbed to artillery fire while delivering medication and food to those in need.

They truly live their values, with their main organizational value being life itself. They have structured everything they do, whether it be the HIV response or the response to the war, around this value. I introduced myself, sharing that our project was procuring and delivering ARVs to them, and that doing so made our project team and partners immensely proud to know we were in some way supporting their heroic efforts.

The USAID Global Health Supply Chain Program-Procurement and Supply (GHSC-PSM) project began working with 100% Life in 2017. We coordinated closely with them from the early days of the war, switching deliveries to Lviv in western Ukraine to keep shipments moving and treatment uninterrupted. In May, at the request of 100% Life, we extended delivery of ARVs beyond Lviv, all the way to Kiev, ensuring life-saving medicines were safely distributed to adults and children living with HIV in the besieged capital city and beyond. We will continue to partner with 100% Life in the procurement and secure delivery of these medications.

It is rare in global health to have the opportunity to connect two organizations playing such different roles in the response and meeting up in a place like Montreal to share stories and hope. They truly live their values, with their main organizational value being life itself, and they have structured everything they do, whether it be the HIV response or the response to the war, around this value.??